Month: March 2018

In our two most recent blogs, we highlighted research showing that millennials respond to direct mail more than digital advertising alone (shocking, I know, check it outhere). And, we also showed how direct mail can be more persuasive for this cohort. (Millennials as a cohort is really not just one, more like a dozen, which we’ll dig into in another post.) Now, we’re looking at how direct mail is actually cognitively processed and what that means for millennials’ affinity for a brand … perhaps your brand.

The Canada Post study we’ve previously referenced, downloadable here, states that direct mail is visually processed faster than digital media. That’s because direct mail has a lower cognitive load (easier to absorb and understand) and higher motivation scores than digital media it was tested against. Why does this matter? Because the combination of the factors observed through the research demonstrates that direct mail has a more ideal cognitive impact to ensure understanding and recall of a message – key precursors to activating response!

The bombardment of digital media in most millennials’ daily lives has created an inattention to and compartmentalization of, that media messaging. It has gone beyond ‘banner blindness’ into the next phase of ‘I don’t see or hear anything I’m not actively choosing to see or hear.” And when the subjects did choose digital media to pay attention to, it took longer to process cognitively and did not generate the same strength of impression (cognitive response).

Some might think a faster processing time with direct mail is a negative but that’s not the case, if you consider the short (or entirely absent) attention span of millennials (and the rest of us). If your message takes too long to process, consumers are likely to move on – why should they have to put in work to understand your message?

Further, though the processing time is faster, millennials actually spend more time with direct mail than they do with digital ads. Consider this research from whattheythink.com;

“Beyond engagement frequency, the duration of engagement says a lot about the value and meaningfulness of a communication. Our research confirms that the overall engagement duration is longer for direct mail pieces than it is for email marketing messages, even among millennials. Consumers across the board – including millennials – respond most commonly spending a few minutes reviewing each direct mail message that they received. On the other hand, millennials typically reviewed each email marketing message for less than a minute.”

The same rings true from a study done by the United States Postal Service highlighted in our last blog. That research showed that parts of the brain associated with desirability are activated by direct mail and make millennials want to spend time with it.

It’s safe to say that to millennials, paper-based messaging (direct mail!) has become a novelty. If someone has taken the time to design something, print it, and mail it directly to them, the millennial perception may be that it must be more important than the literal millions of messages that bombard them online daily. It sends a message that your brand or cause cares about their experience, which ultimately drives response.

Here’s the big but!: you better be as relevant, interesting and as smart as you can possibly be with your direct mail offer and creative for millennials to ‘reach back’. It all starts with the data so use it well and very wisely with this and every other segment, too!

We’ll look at how direct mail drives behaviour in our next blog, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, if you want to learn more about how we can help you cut through the noise, just contact us any time.

We persuaded you enough to open this article – and that was without personalization or incentives (other than the incentive to learn more)! Last month we published an article that talked about how millennials do in fact respond to direct mail, verified through research. Data proves out that direct mail (DM) remains an essential part of your integrated marketing for most segments – when planned, targeted and executed in all the right ways, of course. (We can help!)

Research shows that DM is easier to understand, and millennials actually pay attention to it, as opposed to scrolling right past digital advertisements and messaging. Today, we are looking at how ‘paper in the mailbox’ (sounds more quaint than DM) not only gets paid attention to; but is biologically desirable to millennials.

Motivation is the key to response

We refer again to the neuroscience study done by Canada Post1 in 2015 cited below and downloadable here. Their study showed that direct mail’s motivation score in millennials was 20 per cent higher than digital advertising’s score. A higher motivation score translates to propensity to pay attention and then ultimately drive behaviour, whatever that desired behaviour might be: visiting a URL, making a purchase or donation, signing up to learn more, and so on. (We will dive into specifics about behavioural drivers through direct mail in the coming weeks).

And here’s a look at a United States Postal Services report that studied how our brains react to direct mail:

Each illustration highlights an interesting proof point for the impact of direct mail. Specifically, the part of your brain that corresponds with value and desirability is triggered. That’s right, millennials’ brains have the same biological reaction to your advertising as they might to, say, a Netflix series they adore. How cool is that?

The more your campaign is physically present in their life and exists outside of the online world (tactile!), the deeper the connection. The deeper the connection, the more likely your call-to-action will be able to affect behavioural changes.

The other notable highlight in the diagram image is that millennials spend more time with physical ads. We’ll explore that thought nugget more in our next blog too, so stay tuned.

Direct Marketing Magazine analyzed millennial behaviours as well in their January 2018 issue, busting what they refer to as the “millennial myth.” Their research segmented millennials as engaged, deal-seeking and … ready for it? Omnichannel shoppers! Fifty-five per cent of millennials are omnichannel shoppers, meaning they consume flyers and coupons in all formats (print, web-based and in-app) and they actually use them! Millennials not only enjoy receiving and reviewing their mail, if you offer them a deal or incentive, they are more likely to act on it (across channels) than any other generation. That’s because this segment of buyers (actually many segments of millennials but that’s another topic) is engaged, they become deeply involved in the shopping process, more so than any other age cohort. So what better way to support your marketing objectives and campaign than by creating a deeply (biological) impression on their brain with direct mail

Now that’s cutting through the noise. Want to learn more about how we can help you do that? Just contact us any time.

Stay tuned for Part 3, about the visual processing and time spent with direct mail.

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Millennials love direct mail!

You heard Sarah Simpson of Holt Renfrew correctly. Millennials like mail. Considering they’re the largest generation in Canada’s workforce today, you should likely care about direct mail, too. Our team has been producing results-driven, integrated direct mail campaigns for more than 20 years. (Like way more than 20, just saying.) Contact us today to talk about how we can help your direct mail work hard with every audience—millennials included!